Janus Descending No Such Thing Productions

Not thrilled to post this, but only 4 stars because of mediocre acting.

That lack of acting skill made the characters and some scenes come off as histrionic. Please understand - I *wanted* to rate this higher but can’t/won’t.

Would be a lot more convincing in other people’s hands. Much of the story relies on atmospheric narrative; without decent acting, it becomes mere recitation, at best (and silly-to-annoying, at worst).

We’re left unconvinced by the characters’ attachment to each other - an attachment integral to the plot.

Decent premise, interesting format, weakly executed.

I wanted to like this podcast, but it had too many shortcomings to overlook. The voice acting ranges from bad to okay. The sound design rarely does much to help tell the story or immerse the listener into the world the story creates. Action sequences devolved to just a series of unidentifiable noises rather than sound design that helped paint a picture. And there is regular use of blaring white static that just sucked. The format where Chel’s story was told from start to finish and her peer’s was told in reverse was...fine? It didn’t really enhance the story in any meaningful way, so it fell flat as a gimmick. The dialogue was very overwritten. These characters are scientists who are recording audio logs, yet they often use grandiose imagery, description, and metaphors. People don’t talk like that. Scientists probably definitely don’t talk like that. I was routinely pulled from the story because of it. And at the end of the day, the story itself was very derivative. This was a stock alien/horror story that felt more like fan fic from the Sigourney Weaver Alien world than anything fresh or original.

I came into this show knowing only that it was sci-fi with elements of horror and that it used time in an interesting way. I was not prepared for how visceral my reaction would be. The cast, the writing, the haunting sound design, and the perfect scoring all come together to make it an experience you won't forget.

You hear the story from the perspective of the two main characters, one of them start to finish and the other finish to start. The format is used masterfully to reinforce the impact of story beats, and there's a supercut which you can listen to after you've listened through the first time.

The language is rich and vivid, the sound design is impeccable and unflinching, and the score alternatively hammers home the dread and plays with the wonder and joy of discovery.

I'd strongly recommend looking through the content warnings if there are things you are sensitive to. They do a great job of listing potentially triggering material.

I can't recommend this show enough. If you're comfortable with horror, this is a must-listen.